“I am excited to speak the language of flowers with you.”
After working over 10 years in the marketing and public relations industry, Janie Rose was made redundant after being pregnant with her son of 35 weeks.
During that time, she and her husband bought a franchisee company which they built up to become the 180 strong franchisee team that it is today.
After employing a general manager to run the franshisee business, in early 2019, Janie decided to study floristry. She soon launched her own flower business, Petal and Rose, in September 2019 and has been growing it ever since.
Petal and Rose is more than just a hobby to Janie. It’s a passion project where she’s looking to grow a considerable amount from where it is now.
Who’s your favourite entrepreneur and why?
As the franchisor of Blue Wheelers, I would have to say that all our female dog groomers nationally are high up on my list of favourite entrepreneurs. They have come from so many different backgrounds and have taken the ‘leap of faith’ to buy their own business, learn a new skill, and commit to building their businesses. Many are single mums or coping with other family issues but their love for their two legged and four legged customers encourage them to do their best every day.
What to you enjoy most about running your own business?
Orders! Receiving any order is still such a buzz for me, regardless of what it is. Just seeing my phone light up with Petal and Rose or receiving an order through the website is exciting to me. I love thinking about the future of the business and planning where I want to take things in the future, in a post Covid-19 world.
Then, of course, there are the flowers and choosing what I can afford to put into any arrangement. I love the Flower Markets I go to and the people there have become very important to me. Delivering the flowers and seeing the look of joy of the recipients’ faces fills me with incredible pride.
What three pieces of advice do you wish you’d been given when you started?
- Nothing will go to plan, You think you are in control but in reality, you can’t control everything.
- Time – nothing will happen quickly. Everything takes a lot longer than you might think. Patience is vital and flexibility a quality you want to harness.
- Don’t be scared to spend money on your business. You really need to come up with various budgets; Spending money can be stressful when there is nothing coming in initially from that expenditure. You have to be brave in knowing that spending is an investment and not a waste.
What advice would YOU give someone thinking about starting a business?
Look for a point of differentiation. That could just be YOU – after all, there’s only one of YOU.
Practice patience and be positive with every step of the journey. It will not be easy but it will be worth it.
Join some networking groups like Her Business so you are supported by like minded people and have support at home too. This is very important.
What skills and knowledge areas would you recommend those starting out in business get acquainted with quickly?
- I’d say know your own strengths and weaknesses. Do what you CAN and don’t do what you CAN’T. For example, I struggled to try to build my own website and quickly knew it was beyond me.
- Do your homework on who you are choosing to work with. I learnt the hard way when I saw all the pretty things on the site of my website developer but was disappointed by the entire experience for many reasons.
- Do your research and due diligence in a detailed way.
- Listen well to your clients – use active listening skills – don’t hear just what you want to hear.
- Don’t skip corners.
- Take off your rose coloured glasses.
What does your IDEAL business look like? Even if you’re not there yet.
Ah, I love this question!
My ideal business would be winning and maintaining my true clients. In a post Covid-19 world, I’d love to be doing 2 – 3 corporate gigs per week – business functions that are just right in size and flower requirements for a sole operator. Fitting in some general flower orders around this and having 2 – 3 corporate clients that expect delivery of flowers every week for their offices.
I don’t want to scale; I don’t want to employ staff; I’m 57 and I’m doing this for pleasure not for pain.
My sister tells me this is not a business but a hobby. I disagree. I just think it is a small small business and I’m happy with that. That’s my ideal.
What problem does being a Member of the HerBusiness Network solve for you and your business? And, how?
I am so stuck on certain aspects of my business; the entire funnel system; starting with the love/hate relationship I have with my website. I need to start an email lead generating system and have a content library ready to go for this purpose. I need a lot of help with these processes. I also love the connection Her Business offers to me and perhaps I might even win a client or two. So far I’m loving being part of this formidable group and I find Suzi inspiring and inspiring.
Learn more about Janie Rose and Petal and Rose.
